the girls next door.

we love our neighbors. couldn't ask for better people to live next door to us! these are their little girls. they have frequented this blog several times but this is the first time i got to do an official session with them. they are such happy little girls and i love them to pieces.
steph - i'm in love with how these turned out...and there's a ton more really fun ones. i got more good ones of kymber than i thought! hope you love these few as much as i do...i'll get the rest to you when i get back...xxoo

look out ladies...here comes noah!

can someone say heartbreaker? 'cause that's what this little guy is. noah is one of elijah's little buddies...can't believe he's three already! i remember taking pictures of him in the hospital. that means my little man isn't far behind...crazy. hope you love them shannon. i'll have the rest done when i get back...

little miss macie - a second look

sometimes when i first look through my shots from a shoot, i overlook some real keepers. this shoot with miss macie is an excellent example of that. how could i miss these? so so sweet...

on my mind...

it has been quiet around here on the blog front. only because it has NOT been quiet around here in reality. this blog is first and foremost a place where i can jot down (type down?) my thoughts while i can so i can remember what life was like for me right now when "someday" comes. so...with that in mind...here's some things running through my brain at the moment. they are scattered, true to life.

1. florida. don't know if this trip is going to pan out or not. john was awarded this trip for his amazing work last year. he was one of the top twenty mortgage advisers in his company (which just happens to be the fourth largest mortgage company in the country). go him. we had originally planned to go, john, lucy and i, while elijah stayed home with john's parents. we decided to do this primarily because we would have had to pay for e's airline ticket (lucy flies free because she's under two). however, we just found out that john's mom can't get the time off from work. kind of frustrating because she's known about this for several MONTHS. (i'm trying so hard not be annoyed) after realizing that my mom couldn't feasibly come down to hang out with elijah, we considered taking him with us. which would be fine, except that it would cost around $1500. um...we just don't have that kind of money. so. current thinking? i get to stay home with the kids while john goes to florida and schmoozes his boss. *sigh*

2. lucy is crazy. she's hilarious. seriously hilarious. sitting up, giggling, rolling all over the house...i'm gonna have my hands full with this one. she's also in the midst of a growth spurt...waking up every three hours at night again. can't wait until she's back to sleeping six-seven hours at a time...

3. what's for dinner? the perpetual question.

4. knitting. i have four outstanding knitting orders that i really should be working on...can i get them done before this weekend?

5. looking for a milk delivery service and trying to think of a way to explain the necessity of it to my husband.

6. why do i always feel behind? failing? utterly under appreciated? i'm drowning in the daily, the mundane. this isn't what i signed up for, is it?

7. elijah. oh, how i love that boy...but how he irks me! so sweet one minute, hitting me and talking back the next (one reason i don't want to leave him with a sitter to go to florida). is this a delayed reaction to lucy's arrival? how can i nip this disrespect? what haven't i tried yet? how can i increase my patience stores with him?

8. halloween costumes.  elijah changes his mind every day. today he said he wants to be a dinosaur (complete with the roar). yesterday he wanted to be an owl. the day before? a crocodile. the day before that? woody from toy story (only because connor is going to be woody). he has a pirate costume that he refuses to wear...and i found an astronaut costume that would work. do i just buy it an hope for the best? and what about lucy? old navy has a cute skeleton bodysuit in her size. decisions. decisions.

9. come on, lucy! go back to sleep!

10. christmas is only twelve weeks away. what? ooph.

11. what to do with all the zucchini, yellow squash, apples and green beans i have in my fridge. time to start the dehydrator up again i suppose. and maybe make lots of zucchini bread?  i saw a recipe for zucchini cookies...i might have to try that.

12. i love simple mom. i just read an article on there entitled, "how to live dangerous in marriage". fantastic stuff. one of the points it brought up was about when one partner grows and changes without involving their spouse. i wonder if i've been doing that with john. i'm reading and growing passionate about "greening up" our lifestyle...moving away from him in that area. perhaps his reluctance to change is due to an feeling of intimidation? hmm...might be something we need to talk about...

13. (a baker's dozen) i know there are a zillion more things i could write about. but i should probably stop here. because there are a zillion more things i need to be doing right now...responsibility calls.

the rios/hernandez familia

what a beautiful family! four generations...what a blessing.

so privileged to be able to capture them...

little miss macie

little miss macie is one!

i got to spend a fun hour with her and her parents this past weekend.

she is full of energy and joy!

santa cruz loves the reedy's!

i got to spend a fun afternoon in santa cruz with these five yesterday. these are just a few of the shots that caught my eye as i was uploading their images. tons of sunshine on these happy faces!